Cloudy With a Chance of Major Disaster
by Volcanic Lily
Summary: What begins as a typical visit from distant cousins soon turns into a nightmare when a tornado hits Boston. "It really is weird, isn't it, that bad things seem to be what brings us Cahills together the best?" Also friendship and humor. Some Ian/Amy.


**Author's Note: Hey, everybody, I'm back! I know it's been about three weeks since I last posted anything- which isn't really a lot by my standards, as I'm a total slacker at times. Anyway, this idea has been floating around in my mind for some time now, ever since the tornadoes hit our area in April. I've been working on it for about a month but just now finished it. So, naturally, I'm posting it now! :)**

**Complete List of Genres: Drama/romance/friendship/humor/maybe others. But I had to narrow it down to two.**

**Disclaimer: Clearly, I don't own 39 Clues. This is FANfiction, remember? XD**

**Also, I don't generally do dedications. It's not really my thing. However, I would like to give a special shout out to Another Artist, who encouraged me to go ahead and write an Ian/Amy story without worrying about whether or not it would be considered cliche. I hope this isn't. Anyway, thanks a lot.**

**So, without further ado... Yeah, like people even read these things. ON WITH THE STORY!**

Amy Cahill clutched the wheel so hard her fingers turned white. _All right_, she told herself, breathing deeply. _You can do this, Amy. You survived the Clue Hunt- surely you can survive driving to the airport_.

Driving had been a lot easier when Uncle Fiske or Nellie had been in the passenger seat, ready to grab the wheel or activate the emergency brake in case she screwed up.

She eased her grasp on the wheel, then gripped it hard again. _Come on. Just put your foot on the brake, put the car in reverse, and…_

"Just drive already, Amy! Sheesh!"

Amy turned to look at her brother. Dan was sitting in the front passenger seat, drumming his fingers impatiently against the window. "Are you ever going to actually _back up_?" he said. "Or are we just going to sit here in the driveway all day?"

She shook her head. "No. We're going. Um…" She pressed down on the brake, put the vehicle in reverse, and backed out into the street at a snail's pace. "All right. Here we go…"

"So," Dan said as the car started down the road, "What's the plan? We park across the street, sneak into the airport, and ambush them?"

She didn't take her eyes off the road. Her teeth were clenched as she spoke. "I guess so." She paused. "But leave your weapons in the car, okay?"

Dan frowned. "But what if we need them? What if we get attacked by Vespers?"

Amy still wasn't quite comfortable with the thought of her thirteen-year-old brother having weapons on his person in _any _case- but he had a good point. "Fine. But just the dart gun."

"Dart guns." He grinned. "Now we sound just like the Cobras- um, I mean, Kabras."

She nodded. "Kabras. Not Cobras. Remember, they're going to be our guests for this weekend, so you have to be on your best behavior."

"Only if they are, too," he said, "And I swear, if I have to share a bathroom with Mr. and Miss OMG-I-Need-a-Zillion-Hair-Products-to-Clutter-Your-Counter-With…"

"They get the guest bathroom this time. And you know, most girls do use a lot of different hair products."

"Half of them were Ian's!"

Amy suppressed a titter. "Well, I guess some guys do, too. But really, Dan, they're not that bad."

"Um, we're still talking about the Kabras, right? Did he do that weird mind-meld thing on you again?"

She clenched the wheel hard again. "Dan, seriously. Are you going to keep teasing me about that? It was _years_ ago."

"Your long phone conversation with him last night wasn't 'years ago.'"

"We were making plans about this weekend- about what _all of us_ are doing this weekend. And half of that time, I was talking to Natalie," she told him.

"And all those other times you've talked with him until three in the morning?" Dan inquired, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Dan," his sister protested, "I talk to _everyone_ on a regular basis: them, the Holts, Jonah, Alistair, the Starlings, everyone!"

"But it's different." He launched into a ridiculously high-pitched imitation of her voice. "With them, you're not all like, 'Oh, Ian, you're so dreamy!'"

Amy reddened. "Shut up!"

He continued on. "'…And you're handsome and have a really cool accent, and you wear nice ties without cartoon characters on them….'"

"Just because _you_ always want to wear your Garfield tie, Dan…"

"'And I bet you drive a really nice car, and you have really pretty eyes, and I'm totally a love alien for you!'" he went on with a smirk.

Her knuckles were turning white again, while her face was closer to maroon. "I said shut up!"

"'…And I want to marry you someday, and our kids will be adorable, and we'll name our first adorable kid after Dan, since he's so awesome- but I wrongly think _you're _awesomer, Ian, my love, and…' _Amy, stay on the road!_"

Amy quickly swerved to avoid a collision with a white mailbox, veering back onto the street. She scowled at the road in front of her, though Dan knew that look was intended for him. "Quit distracting me. Unless you _want_ me to wreck?"

"I was only stating the facts," he replied innocently.

"Unless you want me to wreck…" she restated.

"Fine," said Dan. "But I'm serious- if either of them calls me 'Daniel' _one time_…"

"Dan. If you misbehave, I'll make you watch a _Twilight _movie marathon. Understand?"

He cringed and covered his face in his hands. "No! Anything but that! That's cruel and unusual punishment! No one should be allowed to take his shirt off _that_ many times in one movie!"

"Or worse," she threatened, "I'll make you read the books _and_ watch the movies."

"I'll be good! I'll be the best-behaved brother on Earth, I promise!" Dan exclaimed earnestly. "Just… not that!"

Amy laughed quietly to herself. Her brother's phobia of shirtless werewolves, sparkling vampires, and nearly plotless romance was always good for keeping him in line.

*~page break~*

The Cahill siblings made it to the airport with no further incident- meaning that Dan did not further tease his sister about Ian Kabra, and Amy did not nearly run into any more mailboxes.

As Amy stepped out of the car, she hesitated. Something didn't feel right to her. She couldn't quite place it, but she knew that something was wrong. It wasn't that there was any suspicious activity around, but there was just… something off.

Her brother's voice interrupted her internal worrying. "Come on, Amy, let's go surprise them! I can't wait!"

"To see their faces when they see we came to meet them at the airport?" she asked.

"No, to see how many huge bags of luggage they brought with them! Let's go!"

And he raced towards the airport, with his sister in pursuit. "Dan, slow down!… Wait, I can't keep up!… _Dan_! You almost ran into that old lady!… _Dannnn_!"

By the way she kept shouting after him, Dan figured that, by the time they reached the waiting area, everyone in the airport knew his name.

It wasn't difficult to spot the Kabras, seeing as they were the only sixteen- and thirteen-year-olds surrounded by designer suitcases being toted by buff guys in tuxes. Natalie was talking to one of them, presumably about her baggage, while Ian was on his cell phone, calling a limo driver to transport them to the Cahills' Boston home.

"There they are," Dan said in a hushed voice. He elbowed Amy in the ribs, then pointed to them. "See? So, do we ambush them now?"

She followed his pointing finger. A sudden uneasiness fell over her in the form of butterflies assaulting her stomach. As always, the Kabras looked just like supermodels, without a single hair out of place. She suddenly felt a bit embarrassed about her plain T-shirt and jeans (and _more_ embarrassed about Dan's Pokemon hoodie).

Dan. He was still waiting for an answer from her.

"Um, just be careful not to startle them too much," she said. "Remember, they're probably armed and wary."

"Meaning we don't want to take a vacation to Tranqsylvania," he quipped. "It doesn't sound nice this time of year."

"Exactly."

Amy and Dan were no more than ten paces away from their British cousins when Natalie spotted them. "Amy! Daniel!" she gasped.

"Nice to see you again," Amy said, forcing a friendly smile as she and her brother finished the walk over. She still felt nervous.

"Yeah… _Natty_," added Dan.

Natalie pursed her glossed lips. "It's Natalie."

"Yep. And I'm _Dan_," Dan replied.

She paused, then shrugged and said, "Touché."

Amy smiled at Natalie, the tension easing (Dan was good at doing that). "If it makes you feel better, 'natty' is another word for 'fashionable.'"

"Oh." Natalie thought this over. "Hmmm, I may have to start going by that…."

Ian heard the conversation going on beside him but waited until he concluded his phone call before turning to join it. "Well, well, I didn't expect to see the two of you here. How have you been, Amy, Dani… er, Dan?"

"Pretty good. Amy almost wrecked on the way here," Dan answered matter-of-factly.

Amy flushed and nudged her brother none-too-gently. "Dan!" she hissed.

The Kabras didn't remark on this. "Oh, you got your driver's license, then?" Natalie said.

She nodded. "It's… Well, it will take some getting used to."

Dan put in, "I'm going to ask Fiske to get me a new life insurance policy."

"Her driving can't possibly be _that_ awful," said Ian.

He raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You've never ridden with her, have you?"

"Well, no. But I doubt she could be too bad." He started to shoot Amy a smile but was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. He turned and barked out a very sharp, "What?"

A six-foot, suitcase-toting man asked rather timidly, "I was just going to ask, where do we put these?"

"In the limousine when it arrives," Ian replied curtly, then turned back around, muttering under his breath, "Honestly, help these days…"

Amy had already resumed talking to Natalie. "So, I was wondering if you two wanted to go grab a bite to eat with us?"

"Right across the street is some of the finest food America has to offer: McDonald's," Dan chirped.

Natalie shook her head, her silver earrings swinging as she did. "I'll have to decline."

"Because of the greasy food?" Amy asked. "We could go somewhere else."

"It isn't that," she said. "We had a horrible flight."

"It _was_ rather turbulent," said Ian.

"And it made me feel queasy," Natalie finished, "So I think I'll just accompany our luggage back to your home." She looked to her brother. "Go on with them, Ian. I'm certain you have much catching up to do with Amy since your last four-hour conversation last night."

Dan shot his sister a smug grin. _See? _his jade eyes said. _I'm not the only one who's noticed._

_Shut up_, hers replied back.

Ian cleared his throat loudly. "Well, Natalie," he said stiffly, "Why don't you go on? The driver will be waiting."

"All right. Ta-ta!" Natalie said. With a wave and a flip of her dark hair, she spun around and walked away like a model down a runway. The luggage-carriers followed.

Ian turned back to Dan and Amy. "Siblings," he said sheepishly. "You know how silly they are."

Dan rolled his eyes.

"Um, so," said Amy, "Should we go?"

"Let's," Ian said, at the same time that Dan replied, "Sure!"

As they stepped back out into the thick air, Amy again felt strange. Again, no suspicious activity. Not the dark clouds- clouds weren't too unusual at this time of year.

A light wind tossed her long hair. _I must still be nervous_, she thought. She glanced over at Ian, who was currently giving the parking lot a routine scan for enemies. She inwardly kicked herself. _Why do I even feel so uncomfortable? We can talk on the phone just fine._

"I'm hungry," Dan announced. "Can we please hurry up?"

Amy nodded and set about locating the spot where she had parked.

*~page break~*

Ian sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose a bit. "We're dining here?" he said.

"Yep," Dan nodded. "Bah-bah-bah-bah-bah, looks like Ian's not 'loving it.'"

"We could go somewhere else," Amy offered again.

Ian shook his head. "No, this is fine. It's just that…" He looked at the tray of a passing child. "Are you positive that this is food?"

"Yeah," Dan said. "It's perfectly good. _I_ eat it all the time, and I turned out just fine!"

Ian quirked an eyebrow. "Er, sure…"

It was an uncomfortable dining experience. Ian kept asking if the Cahills were _sure_ McDonald's food was edible, Amy continued to apologize, and other than that (to his sister's embarrassment), Dan monopolized the conversation with talk of ninjas, school pranks, and the incredible graphics in the newest Pokemon games. It was relieving to them all when they rose from their table and left the building.

When Amy stepped outside, the sky was a dark gray. It had begun to pour while they were inside, and a gust of wind blew the rain right in her face.

"Let's get in the car!" she called out over the gale.

After climbing into the car and turning on the engine, she just sat there, motionless, gripping the wheel as if she was attempting to strangle it. From the backseat, Dan asked, "Are we going, or what?"

She sighed softly. "I hate driving in the rain."

"Don't tell me you're scared of a little water, Amy." Her brother rolled his eyes.

"But right now, I can hardly even see through the windshield," she said tensely.

Ian cleared his throat. "If you'd like, I could drive back. I've had my license for several months now; I would say I've grown used to the rain by now."

Amy didn't want to look like a coward. On the other hand, she was _really_ afraid of driving in this weather. "All right," she said at last.

They quickly traded seats, and Ian set off for the Cahills' home.

It wasn't long before the rain got worse. Now, he had to squint to see through the windshield as they drove along at a crawl, and sharp blasts of wind shook the vehicle.

Amy looked out the window and frowned. "Something really isn't right…."

"What do you mean?" asked Dan. "It's just rain."

"I've been noticing it all day," she responded, still peering nervously out at the buffeting wind. "Something's wrong."

"What do you mean?" Ian said.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I…"

_PLUNK!_

"Whoa!" Dan exclaimed. "What was that?"

_THUNK! PLUNK!_

"Hail," said Ian. His amber eyes became noticeably anxious. "Are there any places with car ports where we could take shelter for a bit?"

"My school- I think it's right up here on the right," said Dan.

As small pieces of ice continued to rain from the sky, Ian carefully steered the car into the parking lot of Dan's middle school. He parked it under a car port, where it wouldn't be damaged by the hail. Then, he looked out at the wind as it whipped through the trees.

"That's a very strong wind," he said slowly. "Do you think we might want to go inside?"

Amy nodded. Dan said in an attempt to lighten the mood, "Awww, I have to go back to school?" But with another look at the worsening weather, he followed the two into the building.

"Dan," asked his sister, "Is there a storm shelter anywhere in here?"

He didn't answer. He simply led Amy and Ian through the dark hallways and into the only lit room they had encountered thus far: what appeared to be…

"Is this your gymnasium?" said Ian.

Dan nodded. "Well, we don't really have a basement or a storm shelter- and this is one of the only rooms without windows."

"It doesn't exactly look safe," said the older boy. "Do you think we should look for another shelter?"

"You mean go back out into _that_?" Amy snapped, fear making her voice far sharper than she had intended it to be. "Are you crazy?"

Ian looked at her in surprise. "I was only implying that we look for another room inside the school."

"Oh…" She stared down at her soggy sneakers. "Yeah. Why don't I go do that?"

Dan began walking toward the double doors that led out of the gym, but Amy held out an arm to block his path. "No, Dan."

"But this is my school!" he protested.

"But if you think this is the safest room in the school…" She sighed. "…Then I want you to stay in here. I'm going to see if I can get through to Uncle Fiske or Nellie and see what's going on."

Ian opened his mouth to speak. She already knew what he would say.

"Ian," she said in a commanding tone she didn't remember she possessed, "I need you to keep an eye on Dan. I'll be right back."

Before either of them could protest, she pushed open the door and stepped out into the hallway. Then, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket- thankfully, it hadn't gotten too wet- and dialed her house number.

Nellie's worried voice picked up. "Amy? Where are you guys? Natalie just showed up with all the Kabras' stuff, and she said you guys were still out. It's, like, storming like crazy here. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Nellie. We're fine. We're at Dan's school, taking shelter."

"What's going on?" came Natalie's voice, partially muffled.

Amy heard Nellie explaining the situation to her.

"Is Ian with them?" Natalie asked in a small voice.

"He is," said Amy. "Everything's fine. It's just that we don't want to drive in this weather, so…"

Suddenly, Fiske's voice filled her ears. "Amy, are you there?"

"I'm here, Uncle Fiske."

"I just heard: there was a tornado sighted in our county. Stay where you are, all right?"

"A tornado?" she echoed shrilly. In the background, she heard Natalie exclaim the same thing.

"Yes, Amy. Just sit tight; we'll let you know when it's safe again. You're at Dan's school?"

Her voice trembled. "Y-yeah."

"Try not to panic. As long as you're in a basement or something, you should be all right."

"But we're not! Dan's school doesn't have one!" she exclaimed.

She heard her great-uncle mutter something under his breath that sounded an awful lot like, "Oh, for the love of Madeleine…" Then, "Well… all I can do is tell you to be careful. Stay smart- keep your wits about you, and you will probably be fine."

"Probably?" she repeated.

But the line had already gone dead.

Amy's hands shook as she placed her phone back in her pocket. Her heart, she suddenly noticed, had begun to thunder wildly against her ribcage, so hard that it actually hurt. Her breathing began to speed up when she heard a low howl of wind outside.

_Get a hold of yourself, Amy_, she told herself. _"Keep your wits about you," he said. Now… I have to get back to Dan and Ian_.

She burst through the gymnasium doors. Her voice began to shake again, just a bit. "Um, D-Dan? Ian?"

"What?" said Dan.

"I was just on the phone with Uncle Fiske, and…" She swallowed hard, trying to eliminate the suffocating knot in her throat. "He… He said that a tornado's just been spotted here in Suffolk County."

"_What_?" said Dan again, but far more emphatically this time.

"Here?" Ian said. His face became a few shades paler.

"Right." She gulped again, then turned to her brother. "Dan, I'm really not sure if the gym is the safest place. I think we should go find somewhere else."

"Fine, but I'm coming, too," he said. "I know this school like the back of my hand." He stared at his hand for a moment. "Hey, when'd that get there?…"

"Encouraging," said Ian. "Come on, we might as well go on."

Dan took the lead as the three, with uneasy footfalls, exited the gym and set off down the shadowy corridors. Amy could barely see her brother's silhouette mere feet in front of her face, the darkness obscuring her vision. Several times, when he stopped, she ran into him, and she inadvertently brushed Ian's arm every once in a while as they groped their way down the halls.

"Sorry," she mumbled when this happened yet again.

"It's all right," said his voice in the air just off to her right.

_Funny_, she thought. _I think this is the most we've talked since we met up today. Weird, how it always seems to take such dire circumstances to bring Cahills together_.

She heard the sound of the wind picking up, whipping hard against the outer walls of the school. Her body grew tense. Then came a loud noise from right outside: _CRACK!_

_There goes the old oak tree out in the front of the school_, Dan thought. It was a pity. It was good for climbing.

The sound made Amy jump at least a foot into the air. When she came back down, she found herself clinging to a tense arm in the dimness.

Her stutter was back- mostly from the shock of the sudden sound, but partially because of her involuntary reaction. "Um, h-hi."

"Hello," Ian said back. He always managed to sound so nonchalant in comparison to her, but now, even he sounded anxious.

They stayed there for a moment, conscious of the contact but not really capable of moving. The wind yowled angrily, and Dan slowly walked on, feeling his way along the wall. After a moment, he realized that they weren't following him and turned around, squinting his green eyes against the shadows.

"You two had better not be kissing back there," he said.

Amy quickly recoiled, breaking her grip on Ian's arm. "What?" she cried.

"_No_!" exclaimed Ian.

And the trio moved along down the hallway, with Dan leading the way and whistling a nervous tune and the older two turning red and shaking their heads and wondering what had happened and why.

It was as all this was going on that the howling gale became a thunderous roar like the sound of a roaring locomotive. The three Cahills stopped still, all catching their breath.

"Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no," Amy began to murmur, over and over again like a broken record. _It's just like I've heard it described…. It's coming this way!_

Dan spun on his heels. "Come on, you guys! Back to the gym!" he hollered, his voice choosing this moment to crack. "Come on!"

Ian turned to step after him. Amy didn't even move an inch.

"Amy," said Dan, "Get a move on! Come on! Move it!" He began to tug on her arm. "Run like your life depends on it- 'cause it kind of _does_!"

At long last, she snapped to her senses. Together, she, her brother, and Ian dashed through the hallways back in the direction of the gym. The wind howled around them, and Amy continued to chant, "Oh, no. Oh, no," her voice rising from a whisper to a shriek.

By the time they shot through the double doors, back into the light, the noise was almost deafening. Loud crashing sounds punctuated the roar: more trees and light posts being ripped out of the earth.

Amy looked at her companions' faces. Both were pale, scared, with wide eyes. Then, she scanned the room. "Quick," she said, having to shout just to be heard over the turbulence, "Get under the bleachers!"

The noise of falling objects grew more frequent. It began to sound like the world was coming crashing down around them. None of them moved, so fixated they were upon the terrifying sound.

"Come on, _go_!" Amy screamed, now completely drowned out.

In a burst of fearful adrenaline, she shoved her younger brother towards the shelter of the metal bleachers. Dan dropped to his knees and crawled underneath them. He assumed the position that had been drilled into his brain during tornado drills (he had hated them at the time but felt oh-so-grateful for them now): back against the wall, knees pulled up to his chin, hands covering his head. He looked back out at his sister and Ian and called, "You coming?"

Amy was about to join him- she was already crouching down on her knees- when without warning, the entire gymnasium started to shake. The tempest was so loud now that it made her eardrums feel like they were about to burst. Suddenly, the sky itself seemed to be falling down on her.

The next few seconds were a blur of motion, of sound, of dull pain. She may have been knocked unconscious for a few seconds, or perhaps she had only gone into a temporary state of shock.

Either way, when she again came to her senses, she was lying facedown on the hard wooden floor, with a huge metal beam lying inches from her head. She felt a weight on her back, and she struggled to breathe, though that may have been from the terror that also pressed down on her.

"Are you all right?" came a voice from directly above her. It was Ian. The weight on top of her was Ian.

His third thought was that his entire outfit was probably going to be ruined beyond repair. Right before that came his second thought: that his ankle _really_ hurt- it was currently trapped beneath a thick piece of metal. And that was what he found surprising (but not _too_ surprising this time), that his first, split-second thought hadn't been about himself at all.

_Major déjà vu_, he thought.

At first, he wondered if Amy might be unconscious, as she didn't respond to his question, but after a long silence, in which the only sound was the now retreating howl of the tornado, she said weakly, "I'm fine…."

He found himself breathing a sigh of relief. "Good."

From her position pinned to the floor, Amy looked around for her brother. However, the beam obscured most of her vision.

"Dan?" she called. Her voice was still quavering, and her throat felt raw. "A-are you okay?"

To a great flood of thankfulness, he promptly replied. "Amy?"

"Yeah, Dan. Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine," he said. "The bleachers protected me. What about you?"

"I'm fine- just scared half to death, that's all." She paused, sucking in a deep breath, and asked, "Ian, are you all right?"

Like the top Lucian he had been trained to be, Ian lied flawlessly, ignoring the ache in his lower leg. "I'm fine."

"Good," she echoed. "Um… You saved me…. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Silence fell again on the destruction that was the gymnasium. Minutes passed, and it took that long for Amy's heart rate to slow down to what one could consider a normal pace. Her body slowly stopped trembling, and at last, she was able to think clearly.

_We were just hit by the tornado- as in, it actually passed right through here. Wow… _She took another breath and felt grateful for it. _We're really lucky to be alive_.

More time passed, though exactly how much she wasn't certain. After a while, her brother's familiar tone broke through the hush.

"Amy?" His voice sounded strangely youthful, like that of a scared young child.

She answered back. "Yeah, Dan?"

"I… was just checking," he said, "Making sure you weren't- I don't know- dead or anything." Now, he sounded rather sheepish.

She smiled. "No, Dan, I'm not dead."

"Oh." Followed quickly by, "Is Ian?"

Ian's voice responded, "No, Dani… Dan. I am not dead, either."

"Aw. Rats. I was hoping…" But he clearly wasn't; his tone continued to betray his relief that they were all okay.

"Siblings," said Amy, repeating Ian's own words to him. "You know how silly they are."

And right on cue, as she mentioned siblings, she began to feel a vibrating sensation against the back of her leg.

"That would be my cell phone," Ian said, in case it needed explaining. "It must be Natalie, calling to make sure we're all right." He paused. "Unfortunately, I don't think I can reach it."

After twenty or so more seconds, the buzzing stopped. All fell still once more.

"She is going to be incredibly worried," he said. He sounded fairly worried himself. "I hope she doesn't give herself a heart attack."

Amy's cell phone went off next. The chorus of Fergie's "Glamorous" echoed off what was left of the gym walls: "G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S…"

"Natalie?" Dan called out his guess.

"Yeah," she said. "I thought it sort of fit."

Ian stifled a chuckle. "True. Now I'm a bit curious as to what my own ring-back tone is."

He felt her stiffen a bit. "Uh, I set yours a long time ago. I never bothered changing it…."

With a mischievous laugh, Dan began singing in a purposefully off-key voice. "I'm not a princess. This ain't no fairytale. I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet, lead her up the stairwell…."

"_Dan_!" Amy protested.

This only prodded him on. "This ain't Hollywood. This is a small town. I was a dreamer before you went and let me down…."

"Shut up, Dan!" Amy was livid, and normally, Dan would have stopped, but there was one (and only one) good thing about the tornado hitting the school (all right, maybe two; now, he couldn't go to school!): his sister couldn't get to him at the moment.

So he sang his heart out. "Now, it's too late for you and your white horse to come around!"

"Dan, stop embarrassing me!" said Amy.

Suddenly, another song pierced the thick air: "I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was. To catch them is my real test; to train them is my cause…."

"Pokemon, Dan?" Amy grinned. "Really?"

Ian found himself laughing despite the shooting pain in his ankle. It was strange, the things one laughed at just to forget about the previous moment's trauma. "What was that about embarrassing ringtones?"

"…I will travel across the land, searching far and wide. Teach Pokemon to understand the power that's inside!"

Dan hurried to answer his cell phone. "Hello?"

The replying voice was panicked, shrill, and _very_ loud. "Daniel?"

"Hmph." His eyes narrowed. "It's Dan. Spell it with me now: D-A-N, _Dan_."

But Natalie wasn't interested in his spelling lesson at the moment. "What's going on? I cannot reach Ian or your sister!"

"They can't answer their phones right now," he said.

"What?" she cried, clearly mistaking his meaning. "What happened? Is my brother all right? Is…?"

"They're fine," said Dan. "Like I said, they just can't reach their phones."

He heard Natalie breathe a sigh of relief. "So I assume that the storm didn't reach you, then?"

"No. It did. Actually, we're sort of trapped here- but hey, we're all okay."

"At least we can be thankful for that," she said. "May I speak to Ian?"

"I can't get to him," he said into the receiver. "I'm stuck under the bleachers. I've got no clue where he is- or Amy. I can hear them, though." He raised his voice, and unbeknownst to them, Natalie was forced to hold the phone far away from her ear on the other end. "Hey, Ian! Your sister says hi!"

"Ask her if she and the others are all right," Ian responded.

"Hey," said Dan (and Natalie put the phone back to her ear), "He wants to know if you guys got hit."

"No, we didn't. I'm glad- half of my wardrobe is here!"

Dan scowled and didn't answer.

"I'm only joking," she said after a pause. "Truly, I'm glad to hear that you all are safe."

"Trust me, I'm glad I'm safe, too," said Dan.

Fiske's voice came on next. "Dan? Is everything all right?"

"Yeah. We were right in the path of the tornado! It was really cool!" he exclaimed. "Or, it would have been… if it wasn't so life-threatening and all."

"Where are you?" asked Fiske. "Are you still at the school, or were you carried away? And are Amy and Ian with you?"

"We're still at school- the worst possible place to be trapped at, believe me. And yeah, they're here, too."

"What a relief. The storm seems to have disappeared now. We're going to wait a bit, just to be sure, and then, we'll come help you, all right?"

"All right, Uncle Fiske." He hesitated. "Hey, uh, I… love you guys, okay?"

Fiske gave a sound of agreement. "Just stay where you are. I'll see you soon, Dan."

Dan hung up his phone and shifted positions. His shoulder was beginning to cramp. He hated sitting still for so long. But he supposed it was better than being dead.

Then, his throat began to feel tight. It became harder and harder to breathe. It must have been the dust that was coated on the bleachers, which had been blown into the air by the gale. He was about to have an asthma attack.

He began digging through his pocket. _Please be in there. Please be in there…. _To his immense relief, he managed to produce his inhaler. He quickly used it and breathed a sigh. He supposed it was good to be a bit responsible- when it came to keeping track of things that could save his life, at least. Not necessarily when it came to homework, though- when would he ever need to know anything about past participles in the fight against the Vespers?

Meanwhile, Ian's leg was really beginning to hurt. He tried not to show it, but the pain revealed itself through his tense breathing.

"Ian?" Amy asked from underneath him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he stated stiffly.

"You don't sound fine," she said skeptically. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Another jolt of pain, another wracked breath. "I'm positive."

Amy wasn't one of those people who seemed to come with a built-in lie detector, but even so, she could tell he wasn't telling the truth. "Ian, what's wrong?"

He refused to answer.

"Just tell me," she insisted.

"It's just that my ankle is trapped beneath some sort of beam." He cleared his throat. "I mean, it doesn't hurt, really; it's only rather uncomfortable."

"Can you move it?" she asked in concern.

Ian tried to do so and was met with another wave of pain. He caught his breath.

"You're not okay," said Amy. "Do you think it's broken?"

"No, it's fine," he continued to lie, if only to make that worried, compassionate note in her voice go away. He didn't want to be pitied.

Nevertheless, she still knew he wasn't being honest with her. Every breath of his through gritted teeth confirmed that. As she stretched her arms slightly, her hand brushed up against his, and it was clenched into a tight fist.

Slowly, gingerly, she wrapped her hand around his. The color rose to her face; she tried to ignore the fact. Bit by bit, his hand loosened and unfurled, and at the same pace and with the same caution, he turned it to envelop hers.

Neither of them said anything. Both pretended that they weren't at all conscious of this action, though they were truly painfully aware. If they didn't acknowledge it, then maybe they wouldn't be forced to try and figure it all out. This wasn't really the time or the place- if there ever would be one.

Moments passed at a snail's pace until Dan's voice called out, "I'm bored. When do you think Uncle Fiske's going to get here?"

Amy was surprised at how normal her voice was able to sound when really, the only thing she could feel was her right hand. "I'm not sure, Dan. Hopefully sometime soon."

Her brother paused, then said, "So, do you think I'm going to get to miss school for a while, then?"

She laughed. "They'll probably keep you out for a couple days, then find some other middle school to transfer the students to. So no, I don't think you're going to miss your science test on Friday."

"Aw, man!" he groaned. He was silent for a long minute, then said, "I'm glad our house didn't get hit. After all the work we did to fix it up, that would be really lame."

"Yeah, it would."

"You should see it, Ian," Dan continued. "We made it into a total ninja training school!"

Ian forced a chuckle, though he was in fact hardly listening to the boy. "I'm sure it is very nice," he said.

Suddenly, Amy's phone began to ring again: "I've got a crush on you. I hope you feel the way that I do. I get a rush when I'm with you. Ooh, I've got a crush on you, a crush on you…."

"Who would that be?" asked Ian. His smile fell a bit.

Amy held her breath until the song stopped playing. She was glad her blushing face wasn't currently visible. "Just… a friend of mine, calling to check on us, I guess."

She wasn't honestly going to tell him about her crush on Evan Tolliver from school, not while she was currently holding Ian's hand- and inexplicably liking it.

"Hey, Amy," Dan shouted, "Want me to text _Evan_ and tell him his _dream girl's _okay?"

"Dan!" she hissed. She took a deep breath, then said in a calmer tone, "Could you? Without calling me his 'dream girl' or anything of the like?"

"Sure," said Dan.

"Evan?" said Ian.

"A friend," Amy repeated.

And again, Dan said, "_Sure_," this time in a blatantly sarcastic voice.

The three had no idea how much time passed before they heard a familiar voice: "Amy? Dan? Ian?"

Dan's head shot up and ht the bottom of the bleachers. "_Ow_!… Uncle Fiske!"

"Dan?" Fiske's voice called again.

"Under here!" the thirteen-year-old yelled. "Under the bleachers!"

Moments later, after some heaving and shoving from the outside, bright light suddenly surged into the area where Dan crouched. He looked up into the welcome faces of his great-uncle and Nellie.

"Fiske! Nellie!" He shot forward to hug them. "Finally, you guys made it!"

Releasing them after some time, Dan took a step forward to survey the damage done to his gymnasium. Most of the ceiling and two of the walls were completely gone, their remains lying in pieces on the ground. Fragments of metal blanketed what had been the gym floor.

Beside him, Fiske also scrutinized the area. "It's bad, isn't it?"

Nellie nodded her head. "Dude, this place is totaled."

Natalie walked up to them, tentatively stepping over beams of metal in her three-inch high heels. "Er… where are Ian and Amy?"

"Amy?" Nellie called. "Ian? Where are you guys?"

"We're under here," Amy's voice responded.

Fiske, Nellie, Dan, and even Natalie lifted beams and pushed aside wreckage, periodically calling out to the two teens so they could judge their location by their replies. At long last, they found them.

"Ian!" Natalie exclaimed.

And Dan likewise cheered his sister's name. "Amy! There you are!"

It was only as the light suddenly invaded her vision that Amy quickly released Ian's hand. Her face again caught on fire. She pretended it hadn't.

"Nellie! Fiske! I'm so glad to see you!" she cried out.

Now that the beam on top of his leg had been removed, Ian managed to roll into a sitting position. Amy hugged her guardians, as well as Natalie (who looked a bit shocked at this gesture), then knelt back down beside Ian. "How bad is it?" she asked.

Ian crossed his arms. His face was stubborn. "I told you already, I'm fine."

Natalie peered over him concernedly. "What happened?" she asked.

"He hurt his ankle," Amy explained.

"I'm fine!" objected Ian.

Nellie bent down to examine his ankle. She touched it to feel the bone, causing him to wince. At last, she stood back up again and announced, "I don't think it's broken- fractured, maybe."

"You need to go to the doctor," said Fiske. "I can take you; Nellie, take the others home."

Ian protested quite a bit when Fiske picked him up to take him to his car- he was a sixteen-year-old boy; he didn't need to be carried like a baby.

"Just go on," Natalie urged.

"Fine," he said. But he still didn't look very happy as Fiske carried him away.

"Okay, guys," said Nellie, "Let's go home."

*~page break~*

The moment Dan got back to his home, he locked himself in his room with his Wii and his Pokemon cards. Natalie finished organizing her clothes, which was what she had been doing before the tornado hit. Amy just sat down on the couch with Nellie and recounted the events of the day.

"So," the twenty-two-year-old said once the narration was through, "Five hours trapped in a gym with Ian Kabra. And you're still alive. Weren't you worried that when he and Natalie came, you all would be bored half to death with nothing to do?"

"It definitely wasn't boring," Amy said with a small smile. "It really is weird, isn't it, that bad things seem to be what brings us Cahills together the best?"

Nellie grinned. "Have I ever told you how crazy and screwed-up your family is?"

"Probably once a day." Amy pulled out her cell phone. Two missed calls: Natalie's and Evan's. "You know, I should probably call Evan back," she said. "I'm sure he would want to here all about our little adventure today."

At that very moment, the front door opened, and in came Fiske, followed by a limping Ian. Amy stood up from her seat. "Are you okay?"

Ian smiled wryly. "If I had a penny for every time you have asked me that today, Amy…"

"Come on." She came up and put an arm around him to help him as he walked. "I'll show you to your room."

His face colored a bit. "Thank you."

Nellie smirked a bit and called after them, "Hey, Amy, what about Evan?"

"I'll call him later," she said back. "He already knows we're okay. I'm sure he can wait."

As Amy helped Ian limp out of the room, Nellie turned to look at Fiske and grinned. "Isn't it funny," she said, repeating Amy's sentiments, "How it seems like only major disasters bring your family together?"

"It is," said Fiske. "It is."

**Author's Note: So... my longest one-shot ever. What did you think? Please tell me in a review- I'm serious, it would make my day! :)**

**~Lily**


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